It certainly wouldn't have been fun carrying an M1 AND a mill into the field! I found I can still do the 16-count Manual!

I got my license again about a year ago, after 50 years away from amateur radio, because I realized I still knew the code well. But I am not at all certain that I can remember the manual of arms.

It wasn't the M1 that was a real pain to run around with, it was the Browning Automatic Rifle, which every fourth Marine had to carry in the M1 days. An M1 weighs about 9 lbs and a BAR weighs about 20. A BAR plus a mill plus an vacuum tube field radio would have slowed down even John Wayne.

OOOooooKKK! Perhaps I was too all encompassing when I said that the mill had tractor feeds. I suppose it is possible for mills to NOT have tractor feeds.

I based my experience on my use of the mills We used. We also always used 5 layers of paper ..... with perforated edges which held the sheets together and mated with the tractor feeds on the ends of the roll. It was absolutely essential that our mills had tractor feeds to pull the heavy 5-sheet paper through. The paper came in boxes, continuous feed, 8 1/2"W X approximately 11" long between perforations.

Perhaps the Navy used single sheet paper and a tractor feed wasn't needed. I can't comment on that.

I have not been in the military, so I don't know about a mill from direct experience. However, they sound a lot like the Teletype machines used for telegraphy, military, and also I believe RTTY. Anyway, they were heavy duty, caps only machines and usually supported paper tape. The earlier ones supported 5 level Baudot code and the later 8 level ASCII code.

73 de Bob, VE8BOB

"Memories....." One needs to watch what they're after in this arena. Many of the models of working TTY during my career have quite a few of the common characters absent. Alot of operational opr-opr TTY circuit equipment didn't have the '?" for example. A question was formed by the prosign "INT" as in, INTerrogative. The CW '?' translated is 'IMI' which had the meaning of "repeat', e.g., VE8BOB IMI VE8BOB.

Having gotten proficient enough on those old monsters to jam the schoolhouse's 100wpm gears, I would go looking for a Selectric with the right ball, or a fine old-school black manual and put the CAPS lock on. (Unless one wishes to exhibit or capture a particular authenticity.) Frankly, with the advent of the computer, Selectrics garner more than they're actually worth based on numbers of folks who rue the typewriter going the way of the dinosaur, yrs trly included, so demand not the item often drives the price.

Thanks for the thread. My last hurrah was snagging TTY traffic from our Canadian brothers in Iran who were feeding us info about the goings on with our hostages which we could then pass up the chain for decision making or, in retrospect, non- decision making.73

KC9TNH:"Having gotten proficient enough on those old monsters to jam the schoolhouse's 100wpm gears, I would go looking for a Selectric with the right ball, or a fine old-school black manual and put the CAPS lock on."

My thoughts exactly.

Used Selectrics might be a little pricey, but the "Orator" ball is all caps. Selectrics are doubtless much easier on the old carpel tunnel system (and thus faster) than a big mechanical manual typewriter locked in all caps mode.

All caps mode on a manual requires a different typebar motion and key stroke (than lower case mode) which may make all caps typing even harder on the old carpel tunnel system.

Possibly all caps mills were used so that typing effort could be minimized.

About twelve years ago, my two grandsons and I were spending the day shopping for oak shelves for our media collection. At one of the stores there was a refinished rolltop desk with a beautiful LC Smith typewriter (not an actual "mill", but...). The boys, about 6 and 7 years old, stared at it and asked me what it was.

It suddenly dawned on me that this was indeed the first time either one of them had actually SEEN an old-fashioned typewriter. So I explained what it was, and the saleslady was nice enough to give me a couple pieces of paper (out of the Laser Printer behind the counter!). I cranked the paper in, remembering how to set the margins - it all came back to me instantly!

Then I started typing and as I did the boys watched the letters appear. Finally, a lightbulb appeared over the older guy's head. "I get it! This is a keyboard, with a built-in printer!

I sent the "typewriter" story to my D-in-L. She said "the boys has never seen a typewriter either" and got quite a kick out of the story.

I know they have never seen a steam locomotive.

Great story!

Hi Allen -

My grandfather was the engineer on the last scheduled steam Los Angeles-to-Las Vegas passenger train (Union Pacific). I was about six years old at the time, and my dad hoisted me up to the locomotive cab so HIS dad could hold me and wave at the crowd. Vegas wasn't a big town in 1949, and I think literally everybody was there at the depot.

You might try one of the various ASA groups on Yahoo. Lots of ex-05H types (Morse Intercept) on there, and one of them might know where to get what you need. I've seen mils with and without the sprocket feed, but feeding 5-ply through without a sprocket feed would cause all kinds of headaches. You wouldn't want to copy an entire net's worth of traffic, only to see finally that the paper had not fed!

I'm off topic but I recently bought a 1950's manual typewriter off of rubyblane collectable website from the seller ID "appleblossum antiques" for $40 which looks and works perfect/minty, that I use for copying. Same seller, AA , has only one left (1970's) at far cheaper price than Ebay. Not a MIL of course, but manual.

Sorry for not replying for so long.... Great story. One experience that you will never forget. My kids grew up with diesel and I have no idea if they have ever seen a steam engine to this day. Maybe, but I don't KNOW!

One day I did take my very young son to the local rail yard and took him up into the control tower. The tower operator gave us a "tour" of what was what, which my son found very fascinating. The ultimate was when another man got up from a chair and asked my son if he'd like to ride in an engine.

He then took us across several tracks to where his shifter was parked and gave us a ride up the track for about a half mile. My son never forgot that ride. A modern day railroader wouldn't DARE do that today!

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